All-round learning from a universal instrument

At a recent festival dedicated to the yangqin, young people were to the fore.

At the third International Dulcimer Music Festival in Beijing from Aug 11 to 16, a concert performed entirely by children and teenagers received particular attention. The youngest performer was just 4 years old, playing the yangqin standing up because she was not tall enough to sit on a stool.

With yangqin education for young people uppermost in their minds, experts and artists joined in discussions at the festival, looking for innovative teaching methods to help young learners acquire techniques and keep them enthusiastic about the instrument.

Fu Bing, a yangqin player and examiner for yangqin grading exams, says more parents are now willing to invest in their children's all-round education, and the number of young people learning the instrument has grown steadily in recent years.

Yangqin ensembles and extracurricular training courses for young children are also emerging, the Beijing Junior Jasmine Ensemble being one of the most notable examples.

The ensemble, established last year, has already given dozens of performances in both China and overseas, and its members have won several gold awards in international music competitions.

The ensemble is associated with the Jasmine Ensemble, which was founded by Liu Yuening, a musician and researcher, in 2008 and comprises young professional yangqin performers.

While the Jasmine Ensemble has been taking the sounds of the yangqin overseas, Liu is not complacent and so, with a yangqin player and composer, Chen Yunyun, established this junior ensemble for children with the aim of passing on expertise to coming generations.

"Learning musical instruments is more than simply acquiring the techniques," Liu says. "More importantly, it means taking up the responsibility to inherit and promote our culture, and to contribute to the overall development of world music."

So an evident feature of this ensemble is that each student is supervised by a professional musician who belongs to the Jasmine Ensemble, which means the children can enjoy one-on-one instruction.

Apart from professionalism, fun is another keyword in the children's everyday training. First and foremost, happiness and friendship are what Liu says she would like the children to gain from learning music.